China has been walking a fine line. On one hand it has been presenting itself publicly as a peacemaker that wants to bring and end to the war in Ukraine. On the other hand it is Russia’s biggest trading partner and is helping Russia evade the consequences of western sanctions.
Today we’re learning that, according to US intelligence agencies, China is also surging supplies of equipment to Russian to help support the war effort.
China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for use in its war against Ukraine, according to a U.S. assessment.
Two senior Biden administration officials, who discussed the sensitive findings Friday on the condition of anonymity, said that in 2023 about 90% of Russia’s microelectronics came from China, which Russia has used to make missiles, tanks and aircraft. Nearly 70% of Russia’s approximately $900 million in machine tool imports in the last quarter of 2023 came from China.
Chinese and Russian entities have also been working to jointly produce unmanned aerial vehicles inside Russia, and Chinese companies are likely providing Russia with nitrocellulose used in the manufacture of ammunition, the officials said. China-based companies Wuhan Global Sensor Technology Co., Wuhan Tongsheng Technology Co. Ltd. and Hikvision are providing optical components for use in Russian tanks and armored vehicles.
President Biden has already raised this issue directly with President Xi but it looks like Xi is ignoring him.
President Joe Biden raised concerns about China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month, following other officials repeatedly raising the concerns with their Chinese counterparts, officials said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also raised the matter with US allies during his recent Europe trip, the officials said. The US has not seen any interruption to the ongoing Chinese support since that Biden-Xi phone call, though sometimes it takes time to see changes come to fruition.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was just in China and she also raised the issue, even threatening sanctions against Chinese companies and banks if the support continued.
The United States is prepared to sanction Chinese banks and companies, as well as Beijing’s leadership, if they assist Russia’s armed forces with the invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday.
“We stand ready to act if we see significant violations, especially by financial institutions,” Yellen said in an interview with CNBC’s Sara Eisen in Beijing. “Anything that involves aiding Russia’s military in their brutal war against Ukraine is unacceptable to us and we have the ability to sanction it.”
Next up is Sec. of State Anthony Blinken who is traveling to China later this month to push the issue. Meanwhile, Russia’s counterpart to Sec. Blinken, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, was just in China for what sounds like a real anti-west lovefest.
“We would like to express our highest appreciation and admiration for the successes that you have achieved over the years and, above all, over the last decade under your leadership,” Lavrov told Xi, according to Russian media.
“We are sincerely pleased with these successes, since these are the successes of friends, although not everyone in the world shares this attitude and are trying in every possible way to restrain the development of China — in fact just like the development of Russia,” Lavrov said.
But during this same visit, China once again proclaimed its desire for peace.
At their joint news conference Wang repeated China’s calls for a ceasefire and “an end to the war soon.”
“China supports the convening at an appropriate time of an international meeting that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, in which all parties can participate equally and discuss all peace solutions fairly,” Wang said.
I guess it’s not really breaking news that the world’s most belligerent communist power is supporting Russia against the west. That’s what you would expect them to do. Still it’s worth pointing out how calls for peace really disguise continued efforts to ramp up the war effort.
Here’s short clip of the Lavrov-Xi meeting earlier this week.
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